This.

 

I agree, I never implied that HPDE 1 was the place for testing any limits. All I was saying was as you get better car control, you try to get closer to the limits. At some point you need to push the car (and your abilities) with different techniques. Some instructors keep you far away from the limit, and some let you get close. I can't/won't push the car beyond my comfort zone when someone is in the passenger seat because I don't want something bad to happen and it be on my conscience, so I only really try to push things when running solo. Keep in mind when I say "push" things, I mean trying to go faster. Braking later/doing more trailbraking can unintentionally lead to "overdriving" because you might do a mini-drift through a turn.

There's a fine line between giving someone too much rope and too little, I definitely understand that.

 

Nice article. It hits close to home for me, as I'm definitely in the 'overdriver' camp right now and working to bring the finesse back. A few seasons of ice racing wrecked my summer driving as I'm much too comfortable sliding a car around.

 

ty for the insight my fellow hybrid.

 

great article billy!

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...r-Control.aspx

I think you managed to articulate without oversimplifying or being verbosely technical, a great article I hope people will take to heart.

I can't stress how many times I tell people not to throw money at the problem (that was my mistake before) and excessively raising the mechanical limit of their car/bike as a crutch. Ironically, it ends up hindering their development, perhaps even retarding it, as their "Because Race Car" parts result in excessively high limit with a narrow window of forgiveness which their skill can't appreciate or utilize.

Expanding further on your theme of improving as a driver, what would you suggest as a starter car to learn good habits instead of bad habits? I usually advise track neophytes to consider purchasing an NA or NB miata as they are fairly cheap to run and maintain. If possible, I tell them go for the no abs no power steering option (obviously no traction control) so that they can learn key skills such as weight transfer, turning under power (so as to lighten steering effort) and threshold braking (so they don't rely on abs to save them). I'm very opposed to the slew of Playstation cars, basically any car with 4wd or hero mode where the driver can basically mash the gas and turn wildly while unbeknowst the electronics/traction control/stability systems are balancing every parameter to keep the car from becoming a beer can.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback and kind words

Physics is physics and the goal of the article is to take this knowledge and apply it to every car you drive. I agree that many "Playstation" cars - AWD and modern TCS equipped cars can mask a lot of mistakes, but a good driver who applies proper inputs will always make a playstation car go faster.

As far as an ideal beginner car, I've always liked the Miata as well and have owned 5 of them. Like the S2K, they are proper racecars on paper but aren't as loose or peaky as the S2K -which is also helpful when learning. Power steering can be helpful when learning car control and drifting because without it, not only are you trying to learn how to feel the car move around, you need a lot more physical input to catch slides. But I agree that non P/S helps you feel the car at the limit better.

 

Ice racing has become my most valuable tool for learning car control.

 

^ HOLY CRAP!

Must have been a blast though

 

Finally heard my experience articulated! I'm under-developed, for sure.

 

Great article. Having run tracks on both RA1's and RS3's, I can vouch for the fact that r-comps don't like to slide. IMHO, that makes them less fun as well. I love the rs3's because of the large slip angles they can still work with.